2001 Special Service Award Recipients: Drs. Wanda and Stewart Bellman

Drs. Wanda and Stewart Bellman are well known professors of English at BHSU and throughout the Black Hills community. Their dedication and commitment to teaching and helping others garner them recognition as recipients of the BHSU special service award. Each was a gifted instructor and specialist in his/her own right.

Active in the community as well as at the university for many years, the Bellmans retired from higher education in the mid 90s after inspiring and mentoring hundreds of students. Stewart was actively involved in writing programs and worked with the Bush Foundation during his teaching years. Wanda was enthusiastically involved in speech, drama and women's issues as an educator. Both began their higher education careers at BHSU in 1966 and earned their doctorates of education from the University of South Dakota in 1974.

Today, both are active as volunteer readers at West Elementary. Stewart is coordinator for the Matthews Opera House Brown Bag Lecture Series, editor for the Spearfish Center of the Arts and Humanities newsletter, and a member of the board of directors for the Spearfish Center for the Art and Humanities. Wanda is a discussion facilitator for the South Dakota Humanities Council Adult Reading Series and a reader for the Macular Degeneration group.

Their interests include theater and musical performances, mountain bicycling, traveling, and spending time together.